Jay Varkey

Group Executive Director/ CEO-UK/Europe

GEMS Education

Three EdTech companies, operating in different contexts, with highly diverse products and solutions and at different stages in their journey, share challenges and success in a Fireside Chat. They reveal how designing, developing and selling products for learners in highly diverse markets with different needs and contexts demands different approaches.

Carla Aerts

Director

Tmrw Institute

Kirsten Campbell-Howes

Head of Education

Busuu

Mark Seabrook

Operations Director

Snapplify

EdTech investors tell the Next Billion EdTech Prize start-ups and contenders what they need to know about the investment landscape and how to consider and prepare conversations with investors and investment pitches.

Nurali Aliyev (1)

Founder

Capital Holding / ZHANARTU charity foundation

Mike Butcher

Editor-at-large

TechCrunch

Jan Lynn-Matern

Founder

Emerge Education

Bill Boyu Ning

Founding Partner

Blue Elephant Capital

John Rogers

Partner

The Rise Fund

Mike Butcher and Jan Lynn-Matern discuss and tell Next Billion EdTech Prize start-ups what makes a good pitch and gets investors’ attention. They reveal the importance of story, passion and knowing the numbers when pitching and being questioned by investors, and how first impressions matter - not to mention the importance of understanding education.

Nova Pioneer Academies

Guillermo Fretes

Former Independent Consultant

Melody Lang

Founder

MPA Education

Antti Korhonen

CEO

xEdu

The final six start-ups and companies pitch fast and furiously and aim to convince the judges in their three-minute elevator pitch, against the clock.
- MoiLearning
- ScholarX
- OXEd
- Sabaq
- Mtabe
- Praxilabs

Come together with all delegates for the opening of the Global Education and Skills Forum 2019. Hear the deep perspectives from major thought-leaders, public figures and policy-makers as we set out to answer the question for this year's Forum: "Who is changing the world?"

Zainab Arkani

Instructor

Waterloo Catholic District School Board

Braydon Bent

Presenter, Vlogger, Actor

Mina Guli

CEO and Athlete

Thirst

Tariq Al Gurg

Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors

Dubai Cares

Raj Kumar

President & Editor-in-chief

Devex

Dana Leong

Musician

TEKTONIK Arts Inc

Kennedy Odede

Co-Founder & CEO

Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO)

Mark Pollock

Explorer and collaboration catalyst

Mark Pollock Trust

Vikas Pota

Chairman

Varkey Foundation

Asif Saleh

Senior Director (Strategy,Communication and Empowerment)

BRAC

Ahmed Ullah

Youth Coordinator

Canadian Rohingya Development Initiative

Sunny Varkey

Founder and Group Chairman

Varkey Foundation & GEMS Education

Mike Butcher, Editor At Large of TechCrunch, opens the final rounds of pitching for the Next Billion EdTech Prize 2019.
Twelve EdTech start-ups have been selected from a global search and early rounds of pitching. They will share their innovations for a coveted place in the Grand Final which will be held during the Closing Plenary on Sunday 24 March 2019.

Mike Butcher

Editor-at-large

TechCrunch

Three (3) Next Billion EdTech Prize 2018 participants reveal the journey they have taken in the last twelve months and how the Next Billion Prize has opened new doors and opportunities. These EdTech start ups will share in a "fireside chat" the new relationships they have forged with policy makers, the pilots they have run with their technologies and how investor mentors have supported them to see their innovations realised.

Daniela Carvajalino

CEO

The Biz Nation

Mursal Hedayat

Founder & Chief Executive

Chatterbox

Dianne See Morrison

Editor, Freelance Journalist

The Pathfounder

Charles Wiles

Founder and CEO

Zzish

Mark Pollock is changing the world. Unbroken by blindness in 1998, Mark went on to compete in ultra endurance races across deserts, mountains, and the polar ice caps including being the first blind person to race to the South Pole. In 2010 he was left paralysed after falling from a second story window. At the Global Education and Skills Forum in 2019, Mark will inspire delegates with his new field of exploration - the intersection where humans and technology collide. In discussion with Olivier Oullier (President of EMOTIV, the global leader in mobile neurotechnologies and personalised neuroinformatics), Mark will talk to the catalysing collaborations that we can expect to see changing our world.

Mark Pollock

Explorer and collaboration catalyst

Mark Pollock Trust

Olivier Oullier

President

EMOTIV

We live in an increasingly complex and rapidly rapidly-changing world. In our lifetimes we have already seen remarkable developments in how we work, and our lives become centred around technologies that were not even invented a few years ago.

We now live with global challenges that have become part of our local communities.
By capitalising on student differences and adapting instruction to individual needs, teachers can help children to reach their full potential—equipping them not only with the competencies to adapt to a changing world but also with the competencies to change the world.

Join this Research Briefing to find out how or education systems can adapt to prepare children for what is yet to come.

Hanna Dumont

Senior Researcher

German Institute for International Educational Research

Mina Guli is changing the world. Through Mina's work with the World Bank and the World Economic Forum, she came to learn about the planet's unfolding water crisis: by 2030, we face a 40% shortfall in the global supply of accessible, reliable water.
Mina has since dedicated her life to educating leaders and young people alike about this crisis and how we can solve it. In this session at GESF 2019, learn more about Mina's life, work and incredible work as an ultra-endurance runner to raise awareness about our planet's most precious resource. In conversation with Mona Hammami, Senior Director at the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court.

Mina Guli

CEO and Athlete

Thirst

Mona Hammami

Senior Director

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court

An initiative of the Varkey Foundation, the $1 million Global Teacher Prize recognises outstanding contributions to the profession.

Join this session to hear this year's finalists talk about their life, their work - and what drives their teaching. Which of them will be announced as the 2019 winner later at the Global Education and Skills Forum 2019?

Vladimer Apkhazava

Teacher and Global Teacher Prize 2019 Top 10 Finalist

Chibati Public School

Débora Denise Dias Garofalo

Teacher of Technologies

Secretária Municipal de Educação de São Paulo

Daisy Mertens

Teacher

Communiityschool De Vuurvogel

Andrew Moffat

Assistant Head Teacher

Parkfield Community School

Swaroop Rawal

Teacher

Freelancer

Melissa Salguero

Music Educator

NYC Department of Education

Martin Salvetti

Professor

E.E.S.T N5 '"2 de Abril" Temperley

Yasodai Selvakumaran

Humanities Teacher and Professional Practice Mentor

Rooty Hill High School NSW Australia

Hidekazu SHOTO

Teacher

Ritsumeikan Primary School

Peter Tabichi

Maths/Physics Teacher

Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School

Rebecca Warbrick

Head of Marketing

Varkey Foundation

Take a virtual tour of exceptional classrooms across the world, and see first-hand how teachers are succeeding in different countries and contexts. As a valued Organisational Partner of the Global Education and Skills Forum 2019, Teach For All shares their Global Learning Lab with delegates.

See and learn from teachers who are succeeding and thriving in some of the world’s most challenging contexts, and start to re-imagine education to help all students fulfil their potential.

Archana Iyer

Global Director, Student Outcomes

Teach For All

Sarah King

Global Director, Global Learning Lab

Teach For All

It’s well known that girls are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, but what can be done to address the gap?
Join this Change in the Classroom discussion between Global Teacher Prize finalists and expert contributors on the pervasive barriers to girls in STEM, and how teachers, policy-makers and parents can work together to enable girls to succeed.

LAZSTA (Met South West Science Teachers Association)

Chifuniro M'manga-Kamwendo

Global Teacher Prize Finalist 2019

Blantyre Secondary School, Malawi

What does a teacher need to know in order to be able to teach creativity? Can creativity truly be taught?

Join this Public Briefing where Global Teacher Prize finalists and expert contributors, debate the role of teachers and the wider education sector in fostering the core values of creativity, originality and individuality, as well as in building the skills that students need to move from copying a masterpiece to creating their own work of art.

Brian McDaniel

Teacher

California Department of Education

Philip Tan

Educator, Creative Director

Philbeat Ptd Ltd

Michael Wamaya

Dance Teacher

Project Elimu

Andria Zafirakou

Global Teacher Prize Winner, 2018

Alperton Community School

The UK is set to exit from the European Union in March 2019, a move that will fundamentally change both the international community and global economy. But how will Brexit change the lives of young people living in the UK and across the world today?
Join our panel of experts in this Public Briefing as they discuss the impact of the UK’s exit from Europe and its likely consequences for education, skills and young people’s futures.

Nicolo Ferrari

Broadcaster and journalist

Global Radio

Becky Francis

Director

UCL Institute for Education

Jitesh Gadhia

Member

House of Lords

George Papandreou

Former Prime Minister

Greece

Matteo Renzi

Former Prime Minister of Italy

EdTech at scale and ensuring its effectiveness is a challenge that a coalition of partners embraced to galvanise Education in India. An ambitious programme, based on the experience of implementing a personalised adaptive learning solution in government schools and supported by rigorous research into learning, may well prove to be a catalyst that paves the way to address Education challenges in India through digitally-enabled learning.
Find out how the coalition of partners started realising their ambition in a moderated panel discussion.

Sridhar Rajagopalan

President and Chief Learning Officer

Educational Initiatives, Inc.

Shankar Maruwada

CEO and Co-Founder

Ekstep Foundation

Gouri Gupta

Director

Central Square Foundation

Natalia Gavrilita

Managing Director

Global Innovation Fund

Juan Manuel Santos is changing the world. The former President of Colombia and the sole recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize is widely recognised as one of the most influential leaders in the world.
As Colombia’s president from 2010-2018, Santos worked to end the conflict with the FARC armed group, reduced the housing deficit by half and launched the most ambitious infrastructure plan in the country’s history. Under his leadership, Colombia became a regional leader in economic growth, job creation, poverty reduction, sustainable development and the enhancement of Information and Communications Technology.
Former President Santos was named as Statesman of the Year by the World Economic Forum in 2017 and he has also been included twice in TIME magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Due to his tenacity and determination to achieve peace and reconciliation in Colombia, in 2016 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end.”
In this moderated conversation with Dr Reuben Abraham, delegates will hear former President Santos talk about how an entire country can change its path and his hopes for the future.

Reuben Abraham

CEO

IDFC Institute

Juan Manuel Santos

President of Colombia (2010-2018) and Nobel Peace Prize Recipient (2016)

Colombia

The first four semi-finalists kick off day two of the Next Billion EdTech Prize 2019 competition.
In five minute-pitches, the contenders have to convince the judges as well as the public that they are worthy to be counted amongst the six Next Billion EdTech Prize 2019, pitching on the main conference stage on Sunday 24th March during the plenary session.

Carla Aerts

Director

Tmrw Institute

Jenna Arnold

Chief Impact Officer

ReThink

Mike Butcher

Editor-at-large

TechCrunch

Justine Cassell

Associate Dean, Technology Strategy and Impact

Carnegie Mellon University

Christopher Khaemba

Co-Founder and Director

Nova Pioneer Academies

Antti Korhonen

CEO

xEdu

Guillermo Fretes

Former Independent Consultant

Melody Lang

Founder

MPA Education

Can Artificial Intelligence help a generation of young learners in Africa gain literacy? More than finding the right technology platforms - how can we can address the implicit values and practices embedded in these systems that differ across contexts?

While AI-based systems have shown great success in learning gains, most development and evaluation of such systems has been limited to WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic) places. These technologies have the potential for enormous impact if they can serve the next billion learners in the Global South.

However, barriers remain to harnessing the power of advanced educational technology for all learners. Join this Research Briefing to re-imagine how these technologies can respond to diversity in cultural and socioeconomic contexts.

Amy Ogan

Assistant Professor

Carnegie Mellon University

Teachers can be more effective if they're able to access effective training and development opportunities over the course of their career. But what models works best in different contexts? Join our panel of experts for a discussion on the role of continuous professional development in building the capacity of teachers in classroom - and the profession more generally.

Sharath Jeevan

Founder & CEO

STIR Education

Riaz Kamlani

Executive Vice President

The Citizens Foundation

Asyia Kazmi

Global Education Policy Lead

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Miriam Mason

Country Director / Lecturer

EducAid Sierra Leone

Ramya VENKATARAMAN

Founder & CEO

Centre for Teacher Accreditation (CENTA)

Eleonora Villegas-Reimers

Clinical Professor

Boston University

Music, as the renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks once wrote, is manifest and central in every culture on Earth, and we are a musical species as much as we are a linguistic one; our minds tuned to hear a broad range of tones, timbre, pitch and melody. But why should music matter in education?
Join this Change in the Classroom discussion between Global Teacher Prize finalists and expert contributors as they debate the importance of learning about music in the classroom, and whether music itself can be effective as a teaching tool in the education sector more broadly.

Dana Leong

Musician

TEKTONIK Arts Inc

Ron davis Alvarez Lombano

Artistic Director

El Sistema Sweden

Mark Reid

Teacher

Vancouver School Board

Melissa Salguero

Music Educator

NYC Department of Education

Development impact bonds are an increasingly popular model for the public, private and philanthropic sectors to work together. But what is their potential for education, skills and development?
Join our panel of experts at this Public Briefing as they discuss the rise of social impact bonds across the world and explore the ways in which this innovative new way to finance changemaking is helping to drive positive social impact across different sectors.

Dhun Davar

Program Director - Social Finance

UBS Optimus Foundation

Sophie Edwards

Senior reporter

Devex

Richard Hawkes

Chief Executive

British Asian Trust

Safeena Hussain

Founder and Executive Director

Educate Girls

Lerato Lehoko

Managing Director

Bonds4Jobs

Funders are always looking for innovative new ideas with the potential to change the world, but how do they decide which ones to back and which to leave alone?
In this exciting new format @GESF, would-be changemakers will have just a few minutes to pitch their new projects to a judging panel of leading donors who may choose to support or reject the proposals.

Bahar Abbassi

Student

Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad

Chinnappa Das

Student

Dreamadream

Tariq Al Gurg

Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors

Dubai Cares

Arzou Lashkari

Student

The Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad

Tanjina Mirza

Chief Programs Officer

Plan International Canada

John Rendel

Director

The Peter Cundill Foundation

Ziyaan Virji

Student

The Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa

Petra Wadstrom

CEO

Solvatten

Andrew teaches at Parkfield Community School near the deprived Bordesley Green area of Birmingham, which is home to a considerable mix of ethnicities and where over nine in ten pupils speak English as an additional language. His “No Outsiders” programme teaches inclusiveness and diversity.
Andrew has extended this ethos to parents through the use of parent/child workshops and he has extended the programme, with schools taking forward “No Outsiders” in many cities across the UK. Andrew now also uses “No Outsiders” as a tool to reduce the potential for radicalization.
Andrew also runs a “Parkfield Ambassadors” after-school club that creates opportunities for children at his school where 99% of students are Muslim to meet others of different races, religions and cultures around Birmingham.
Take a class with one of the top 10 finalists for the 2019 Global Teacher Prize. Each live, 30-minute lesson will showcase the different methods, learnings and values that helped to secure the teacher's place in the final of the US$1 million prize.

Andrew Moffat

Assistant Head Teacher

Parkfield Community School

Creativity motivates students, attracts employers, but is rarely taught in school. In this talk at GESF 2019, the creator of the Hour of Code explains why computer science is fundamental for all students, and how over 30 countries have taken steps to make it part of the core curriculum.
Hadi Partovi is the CEO of Code.org, which has established computer science classes reaching 25% of US students, created the world's most broadly used curriculum platform for computer science in primary and secondary school, and launched the global Hour of Code movement that has reached over 100 million students spanning every country in the world. With an introduction from Global Teacher Prize finalist and science teacher Glenn Wagner.

Hadi Partovi

CEO & Founder

Code.org

Glenn Wagner

Head of Science

Wellington Heights Secondary School

The second group of four semi-finalists kick off Day Two of the Next Billion EdTech Prize 2019 competition.
In five minute-pitches, the contenders have to convince the judges as well as the public that they are worthy to be counted amongst the six finalists for the Next Billion EdTech Prize 2019, pitching on the main conference stage on Sunday 24th March during the plenary session.

Carla Aerts

Director

Tmrw Institute

Jenna Arnold

Chief Impact Officer

ReThink

Mike Butcher

Editor-at-large

TechCrunch

Justine Cassell

Associate Dean, Technology Strategy and Impact

Carnegie Mellon University

Christopher Khaemba

Co-Founder and Director

Nova Pioneer Academies

Antti Korhonen

CEO

xEdu

Guillermo Fretes

Former Independent Consultant

Melody Lang

Founder

MPA Education

Débora Garofalo overcame a challenging childhood of poverty and prejudice to train as a teacher. She first worked in Human Resources in the banking industry to raise the money to undertake teacher training. This gave her great insight into the skills students need to succeed in the modern workplace.
When she arrived at her school on the outskirts of São Paulo, and near four of the country’s notorious favelas, Garofalo realised that the students were not receiving an education in technology that would equip them to thrive in the world of work. However, the school was under-resourced, and the children were suffering from the impact of their local environment, which was blighted by violence, insanitary conditions and poverty.
Garofalo decided to take inspiration from what she saw around her. She worked with her students to map the problems of the local area through photography. She used this information to develop the Junk Robotics, Promoting Sustainability programme.
Take a class with one of the top 10 finalists for the 2019 Global Teacher Prize. Each live, 30-minute lesson will showcase the different methods, learnings and values that helped to secure the teacher's place in the final of the US$1 million prize.

Débora Denise Dias Garofalo

Teacher of Technologies

Secretária Municipal de Educação de São Paulo

Millions of children across sub-Saharan Africa fail to learn to read. How does the brain learn to read when faced with the challenges of inconsistent access to education and poor educational quality? Using educational neuroscience, with the help of new portable brain imaging tools, we can track language, cognitive, and reading development and measure how the brain’s reading network develops in children at high-risk for illiteracy (i.e. child cocoa laborers in impoverished communities).
Join this Research Briefing to find out how these brain-imaging methods offer an unprecedented insight into the neurobiology of literacy in never-before studied populations of children.

Kaja Jasinska

Assistant Professor

University of Delaware

Pierre Krähenbühl is changing the world. As Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) he is leading through a time of extraordinary uncertainty.
Over almost 70 years, UNRWA has provided services to Palestine refugees. In the beginning, UNRWA provided care to 750,000 people; today, around 5 million Palestine refugees are eligible for their services.
UNRWA is one of the longest-standing examples of the international community working together to promote peace and development and for many decades its staff have found ambitious and innovative solutions to deliver on its mandate. Delegates at the Global Education and Skills Forum in 2019 will hear the Commissioner General talk about why he believes UNRWA still matters, and why the international community should care about its future.

Bobby Ghosh

Editor and Columnist

Bloomberg

Pierre Krähenbühl

Commissioner-General

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)

Laura Chinchilla is changing the world. She served as President of Costa Rica from 2010-2014, the first woman to ever hold the office in the country. Under her leadership, the government of Costa Rica implemented key institutional and security reforms and substantively reduced the rate of serious crime across the country. In this session, delegates at the Global Education and Skills Forum in 2019 will hear former President Chinchilla reflect on her achievements while in office, her legacy for education in Costa Rica and why she believes leadership is critical to changing the world.

Laura Chinchilla

Former President, Professor and Consultant

Agustin Porres

Country Director

Varkey Foundation

Two African education ministers meet EdTech and online learning community leaders to explore how EdTech can enable access to education and promote social and learning impact.
In a Fireside Chat, moderated by Katia Moskvitch, Business Editor of WIRED UK, our esteemed panellists will discuss how new modes of collaboration may open the road to acceleration of EdTech adoption and positive impact and what momentum is required to make it happen.

Susi Dattenberg-Doyle

Founder of Right for Education and Queen of Kpoeta, Ghana

Right for Education

Amina Mohamed (1)

Cabinet Secretary

Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage, Kenya

Katia Moskvitch

Business Editor

WIRED UK

Thea Myhrvold

CEO

TeachMeNow and GetBEE

Matthew Opoku Prempeh

Minister for Education

Government of Ghana

A new generation of changemakers are working across Sub-Saharan Africa to transform classrooms, schools and education systems.
Join Teach For All and their expert contributors in this Public Briefing as they discuss and debate the future of changemaking in education across the region, and identify the initiatives with the greatest potential to deliver positive impact.

Director of Development

African Leadership Academy

Vongai Nyahunzvi (1)

Head of Africa Region

Teach for All

What does a teacher need to know in order to be able to teach tolerance? Is it really their job to do so?

Join this Change in the Classroom discussion, as Global Teacher Prize finalists and expert contributors debate the role of teachers and other educators in building schools which foster a culture of tolerance and co-existence between students of different ethnic, religious and socio-economic backgrounds.

Matthew Lawrence

Executive Director

Tony Blair Institute

Andrew Moffat

Assistant Head Teacher

Parkfield Community School

Cameron Paterson

Director of Teaching and Learning

Shore School

Marjorie Brown (1)

HOD History

Roedean School, SA

To make your jobs as educators easier, start early and get everyone involved. Learn from experts from different sectors focused on the early years of a child's life from the perspective of neuroscience, parent engagement, and urban development. Session led by Bernard van Leer Foundation.
Public Briefings deliver the latest news, analysis and thinking on the key issues that are changing the education and skills sectors. In this series of one-hour discussions, delegates will hear from expert contributors on who is changing the world, and what changemaking looks like across the different strands of GESF 2019.

Annette Dixon

Vice President for Human Development

World Bank Group

Michael Feigelson

Executive Director

Bernard van Leer Foundation

Floyd Green

Minister of State

Ministry of Education, Youth and Information

Elisa Guerra

Teacher / Founder

Colegio Valle de Filadelfia

Mariana Luz

CEO

Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation

Osmar Gasparini Terra

Minister of Citizenship

Ministry of Citizenship

Winner of the 2016 National Primary Teacher of the Year in the Netherlands, Daisy originally comes from a small village in the south of the country. Raised in a one-parent family, she often found home life difficult, but always felt safe and free at school –and with the help of her teachers, she acquired a sense of direction and self-actualisation at a young age. After qualifying as a teacher, she made a conscious choice to work at a school in a deprived area.
Daisy now works in a large community-based school with 440 students and up to 30 different nationalities represented. The pupils have huge learning differences –children with severe learning problems are mixed in with gifted children –and in addition,her pupils face prejudice from students in wealthier areas, have poorer language skills than the average, and struggle to realise their life chances.
Take a class with one of the top 10 finalists for the 2019 Global Teacher Prize. Each live, 30-minute lesson will showcase the different methods, learnings and values that helped to secure the teacher's place in the final of the US$1 million prize.

Daisy Mertens

Teacher

Communiityschool De Vuurvogel

Since its creation almost two decades ago, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has fundamentally changed the international education landscape.
Today, PISA commands the attention of governments, global organisations and the world’s media. Over half a million 15-year-olds from 80 countries and economies took the PISA test in 2018, and the results will be published this December.
But what will be PISA’s legacy - and what are the opportunities and challenges it presents to policy-makers? Join our panel of expert contributors in this Public Briefing as they consider the impact that PISA has had on education systems across the world and debate its potential for the future. The panel will be led by OECD Education and Skills Director Andreas Schleicher, in conversation with a number of ministers of education whose countries have participated in the international testing programme. Session moderated by Financial Times Global Education Editor Andrew Jack.

Leonor Magtolis Briones

Secretary

Ministry of Education, The Philippines

João Costa

Secretary of Sate of Education

Ministry of Education

Andrew Jack

Global education editor

Financial Times

Jernej Pikalo

Minister of Education, Science and Sport

Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Slovenia

Andreas Schleicher

Director for the Directorate of Education and Skills

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

The end of the traditional classroom has been predicted on many occasions over the last few decades. However, many of the attempts to change the way that children learn have not ultimately delivered on their promise of greater learning outcomes.
Join this Research Roundtable between researchers and Global Teacher Prize finalists on the future of the classroom. They'll debate the extent to which innovation and disruption are needed in the way that children are taught around the world.

Armand Doucet

Teacher & Author

Riverview High School

Hanna Dumont

Senior Researcher

German Institute for International Educational Research

Ju-ho Lee

Professor

KDI School of Public Policy and Management

Amy Ogan

Assistant Professor

Carnegie Mellon University

Ana Gabriela Pessoa

VP of Strategic Partnerships

Pearson

Francis jim Tuscano

Head EdTech Coach/ Department Chair

Xavier School - San Juan

Vladimer teaches in a very poor region of Georgia where economic pressures are high. The parents of many students have had to move to foreign countries for work, financially supporting their families from far away. As a result, many of Vladimer’s pupils miss breakfast in the morning, and sometimes the school has to call an ambulance in the case of starving children. Many students subsequently give up their studies and move to Turkey in search of jobs.
Take a class with one of the top 10 finalists for the 2019 Global Teacher Prize. Each live, 30-minute lesson will showcase the different methods, learnings and values that helped to secure the teacher's place in the final of the US$1 million prize.

Vladimer Apkhazava

Teacher and Global Teacher Prize 2019 Top 10 Finalist

Chibati Public School

Olusegun Obasanjo is a Nigerian general, statesman, and diplomat, who was the first military ruler in Africa to hand over power to a civilian government. He served as Nigeria’s military ruler (1976–79) and, as a civilian, as president (1999–2007).
In this session at GESF 2019, hear more about President Obasanjo's life, work and views on who is Nigeria and the wider world for the better. In conversation with media personality and philanthropist Julie Gichuru.

Julie Gichuru

CEO

Arimus Media Ltd

Olusegun Obasanjo

Former President of Nigeria

How can the international community deliver quality education in crisis situations, and ensure that girls are not shut out of the classroom?
Led by Plan International Canada, join this Public Briefing from expert contributors as they share and explore the key lessons learned from crisis-response around the world.

Bahar Abbassi

Student

Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad

Tariq Al Gurg

Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors

Dubai Cares

Masud Husain

Ambassador

Embassy of Canada

Tanjina Mirza

Chief Programs Officer

Plan International Canada

Yasmine Sherif

Director

Education Cannot Wait

Kondo Moussa is changing the world. As the Country Director of Accountability Lab and 2018 Obama Fellow he advocates for integrity in the public service and communities. He believes that the skills and knowledge to participate in the 21st century must include an emphasis on values. By launching a global TV show called Integrity Idol to "name and fame" honest government officials and mobilise role-models, Moussa has created national conversations on integrity and accountability in Mali, Pakistan, Nepal, Nigeria and Liberia. Delegates at the Global Education and Skills Forum will hear more about how Integrity Idol is re-building trust; helping young people be part of positive change; and providing the moral platform on which the future of good governance can be built.

Kondo Moussa

Country Director

Accountability Lab Mali

In five minute-pitches, four Next Billion EdTech prize semi-finalists have to convince the judges that they are worthy of a place amongst the six Next Billion EdTech Prize 2019 finalists, pitching on the main conference stage during the plenary session, on Sunday 24th March.

Carla Aerts

Director

Tmrw Institute

Jenna Arnold

Chief Impact Officer

ReThink

Mike Butcher

Editor-at-large

TechCrunch

Justine Cassell

Associate Dean, Technology Strategy and Impact

Carnegie Mellon University

Christopher Khaemba

Co-Founder and Director

Nova Pioneer Academies

Guillermo Fretes

Former Independent Consultant

Melody Lang

Founder

MPA Education

Antti Korhonen

CEO

xEdu

The world's biggest problems require our best leaders to solve them. Who are they, where are they and how can we unlock their potential to change the world? Session led by Teach for All.
Public Briefings deliver the latest news, analysis and thinking on the key issues that are changing the education and skills sectors. In this series of one-hour discussions, delegates will hear from expert contributors on who is changing the world, and what changemaking looks like across the different strands of GESF 2019.

Yvonne Peters Asamoning

Education Officer

Create Change Ghana/ Teach for Ghana Alumna

Wendy Kopp

CEO & Co-Founder

Teach For All

Nedgine Paul Deroly

CEO

Anseye Pou Ayiti

Fernando Reimers

Ford Foundation Professor of International Education

Harvard University

Dzingai Mutumbuka

Consultant

Teach for All

Public-private partnerships were once the holy grail for development.As evidence grows from interventions around the world, thought leaders from academia, government and the development sector tell us what works, or if PPPs really work at all.
Public Briefings deliver the latest news, analysis and thinking on the key issues that are changing the education and skills sectors. In this series of one-hour discussions, delegates will hear from expert contributors on who is changing the world, and what changemaking looks like across the different strands of GESF 2019.

Jose maria Anton

Secretary General

Virtual Educa

Abdirahman Aynte

Director Strategic Partnerships

UNRWA

Kandia Kamissoko Camara

Minister of Education

Ministry of Education (Cote d'Ivoire)

Anna Bertmar Khan

Senior Technical Advisor

Dubai Cares

John Rendel

Director

The Peter Cundill Foundation

Ansu D Sonii, Sr

Minister of Education, Republic of Liberia

Liberia

A team of students from Kazakhstan have developed an award-winning new app to help keep people safe when they’re walking home after dark. The app, known as “QamCare”, allows people to keep track of their loved ones and to make sure that they don’t go missing by keeping a record of their last known location. “QamCare” won the Senior Division of the Technovation Challenge World Pitch, which is a major annual competition in which girls from over 100 countries compete to solve a problem in their local communities through mobile technology. In this talk at GESF 2019, meet the award-winning young team behind the “QamCare” app, hear about the issues that they’re trying to address in Kazakhstan and learn about how mobile technology can help to keep people safe.

Diyara Beisenbekova

Student

Team QamCare

Aruzhan Koshkarova

Student/Team QamCare

Team QamCare

Azhar Sultansikh

Student / "QamCare" team

"QamCare" project

Diana Zhanakbayeva

Student

Qamcare

The Human Capital Project is a new, global effort to accelerate more and better investments in people for greater equity and economic growth. Why should countries invest in human capital? Can early health care and education prepare children to succeed and prosper as adults in a rapidly changing world? What are the barriers to nurturing human capital and what are countries doing to overcome them? Join a conversation with the World Bank’s Vice President for Human Development, Annette Dixon to find out how the World Bank, countries, and partners are working together to close the massive human capital gap in the world today. Learn about the critical role of investing in people’s education, health, and resilience to build human capital and drive economic growth. In discussion with Financial Times Global Education Editor Andrew Jack.

Annette Dixon

Vice President for Human Development

World Bank Group

Andrew Jack

Global education editor

Financial Times

Swaroop never originally intended to become a teacher, but after becoming a mother and then returning to study at the age of 37, she realised that she had something unique to offer. She saw first-hand how some methods of teaching can create stress in children, which then makes its way into the family. Swaroop therefore went into teaching to accomplish two goals: to help make children more resilient through life skills education, and to bring new methods to teaching that would help students and their teachers reflect, imagine and build their sense of personal worth and agency.
Take a class with one of the top 10 finalists for the 2019 Global Teacher Prize. Each live, 30-minute lesson will showcase the different methods, learnings and values that helped to secure the teacher's place in the final of the US$1 million prize.

Swaroop Rawal

Teacher

Freelancer

Becoming numerate is critical for school and life success. It is essential to be numerate in order to be an informed and analytical citizen. Yet numeracy is often not given the same attention as literacy. Join this Research Briefing as we explore why math matters and how we need to change our conversation around math to prevent harmful attitudes and the spreading of mathematics anxiety. Experts will also discuss how children acquire fundamental numerical skills and how to best foster their skills and healthy attitudes towards math using evidence-based approaches.

Daniel Ansari

Professor

The University of Western Ontario

Matteo Renzi served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016 and became the youngest person to lead a government in the country’s modern history, as well as the youngest leader in the G7. Nicknamed Il Rottamatore (The Scrapper), Renzi oversaw an ambitious programme of reforms targeting the Italian political establishment.

The former Prime Minister has been recognised by Foreign Policy as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers. Hear from this influential changemaker as he reflects on his life of public service and his work in government to reform laws. He'll share what it takes to make public institutions more accountable, and what he sees as the key challenges in education today.

Anne McElvoy

Senior Editor

The Economist

Matteo Renzi

Former Prime Minister of Italy

Javier Arroyo is an EdTech entrepreneur working to build a better future for children through education. He is the co-founder of Smartick, an adaptive afterschool maths programme which uses Artificial Intelligence to study a child’s learning style and adapt to their needs.
Over 32,000 students in 100 countries have used Smartick in the past five years. Hear from this influential changemaker as he talks about his life, his work, and why he believes educational technology can change the world.

Javier Arroyo

Founder at Smartick, Eisenhower Fellow and Endeavor Entrepreneur

Smartick Method

Good EdTech is evidenced and relies on research and holistic education understanding. Evidencing EdTech and demonstrating ‘What works?’ proves challenging for many an EdTech entrepreneur.
In a Fireside Interview, two EdTech entrepreneurs reveal how fundamental research and demonstrating impact have become to inform their product development and how innovation can sit at odds with research, creating some challenging tensions.

Carla Aerts

Director

Tmrw Institute

Rachel Hinton

Senior Social Development Adviser

Department for International Development (DFID)

Jesper Ryynänen

Co-founder

GraphoGame

Noëlla Coursaris Musunka is a philanthropist, international model and the founder of Malaika which educates and empowers Congolese girls and their communities. In this session at GESF 2019, hear Noëlla talk about her life, her work and why she thinks education is the key to improving the lives of girls.

Noella Coursaris Musunka

CEO

Malaika

Leave no one behind. This is among the most aspirational global commitments of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Migration and displacement are two global challenges, and interact with education in many ways. These links affect those who move, those who stay and those who host immigrants, refugees or other displaced populations.
Hear the latest research on these issues in a conversation with Bilal Barakat, Senior Policy Analyst of UNESCO's landmark Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report.
Over a year in the making, the report analyses all 195 education systems around the world and presents evidence on the implications of different types of migration and displacement for education but also the impact that reforming curricula, pedagogy and teacher preparation can have on embracing diversity. The report also presents the annual analysis of progress towards each of the education targets in the new Sustainable Development Goals framework.

Bilal Barakat

Senior Policy Analyst

Global Education Monitoring Report - UNESCO

Farah Williamson

Director of Gulf & Strategic Partnerships

Plan International

By 2030, demand for teachers in low-income countries will nearly double and in some countries half of all graduates leaving university will need to become teachers to meet it. The purpose of education and the skills that young people will need are also changing. So is our understanding of how children’s brains develop and how they best learn.
An expert panel of contributors, led by the Education Commission, will discuss the future of the education workforce in this Public Briefing. They'll debate the evolving role of the teacher through technology, collaboration and the changing learning environment - including greater personalisation of learning.
PUBLIC BRIEFINGS
Public Briefings deliver the latest news, analysis and thinking on the key issues that are changing the education and skills sectors. In this series of one-hour discussions, delegates will hear from expert contributors on who is changing the world, and what changemaking looks like in practice.

Sharath Jeevan

Founder & CEO

STIR Education

Lucy Lake

Chief Executive Officer

Campaign for Female Education - CAMFED

Ju-ho Lee

Professor

KDI School of Public Policy and Management

Denis Mizne

CEO

Lemann Foundation

Jamie Saavedra

Senior Director, Education Global Practice

The World Bank Group

Liesbet Steer

Director

The Education Commission: The International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity

There is growing concern around the threat of gun violence in US schools, including mass shootings. Hear US teachers talk about the work that they are doing to address the issue and help make their classrooms safe for their students.

Brian Copes

Lead Teacher

Hoover City Schools

Bobby Ghosh

Editor and Columnist

Bloomberg

Nadia Lopez

Principal

Mott Hall Bridges Academy

Mark Vondracek

Teacher

Evanston Township High School

Take a virtual tour of exceptional classrooms across the world, and see first-hand how teachers are succeeding in different countries and contexts.
The Teach For All Global Learning Lab provides an opportunity to see and learn from the insights of teachers who are succeeding and thriving in some of the world’s most challenging contexts, and to show how we can start to re-imagine education to help all students fulfil their potential.

Archana Iyer

Global Director, Student Outcomes

Teach For All

Sarah King

Global Director, Global Learning Lab

Teach For All

Young people with special educational needs and disabilities face a range of barriers to participating in education and the workforce.
Join a Public Briefing with expert contributors as they examine cases where organisations have made fundamental changes in order to include and enable people with disabilities and special needs, and the key lessons we can learn.

Tom Casson

Co-Founder

How Do I?

Gastón Gorali

Producer, CEO

Mundo Loco CGI

Vijita Patel

Principal/National Leader of Education

Swiss Cottage School, Development & Research Centre

Mark Pollock

Explorer and collaboration catalyst

Mark Pollock Trust

Andria Zafirakou

Global Teacher Prize Winner, 2018

Alperton Community School

Going from strength-to-strength, EdTech is taking China by storm and enjoying record investment and company growth.
Increasingly Chinese education is turning to technology in the classroom. Artificial Intelligence in EdTech is becoming ubiquitous, supporting millions of learners in the fastest growing EdTech market on earth.
In a panel discussion, three hugely successful EdTech entrepreneurs share their story.

Sophie Chen

Partner

JMDedu

Zhuang Chen

New Oriental Education and Technology Group

Bill Boyu Ning

Founding Partner

Blue Elephant Capital

Dun Xiao

Co-Founder

17EdTech

There is growing recognition in Latin America of the critical importance of improving the quality of teachers, buttressed by a mounting body of research and evidence showing the essential role educators play in improving learning and the limited effectiveness of teachers in the region. In country after country, efforts are underway to reform certain aspects of the teaching profession, from teacher training and professional development to recruitment and evaluation.
The main goal of the Latin American Coalition for Excellence in Teaching is both to promote consensus on the necessary reforms and to provide the political and social support to implement and carry them out in a sustainable fashion. A regional coalition of individuals, organizations, and networks committed to achieving excellence in teaching can become a platform from which national-level efforts can draw ideas, energy, and support. While the specific solutions will necessarily vary between countries, the issues facing the teaching profession in Latin America are strikingly similar and the opportunities to learn from each other are abundant and extremely powerful.

Luis miguel Bermudez Gutierrez

Social Science and Ethics Teacher

Colegio Gerardo Paredes

Ariel Fiszbein

Education Program Director

The Inter-American Dialogue

Luisa Gómez Guzmán

President

Fundacion Compartir

Agustin Porres

Country Director

Varkey Foundation

Educational Neuroscience is closing the gap between the lab to the classroom. In time, this exciting new field of study and practice may provide innovative tools for educators and learners alike.
Join this Research Roundtable where leading academic researchers and world class teachers discuss how a teacher’s practice may relate to research findings – and how neuroscience may inform and even transform what happens in a classroom.

Daniel Ansari

Professor

The University of Western Ontario

Gelgia Fetz Fernandes

Program Officer Research

Jacobs Foundation

Marie-Christine Ghanbari Jahromi

Teacher, Lecturer, Researcher (Top Ten Finalist Global Teacher Prize)

Comprehensive School / University of Muenster

Kaja Jasinska

Assistant Professor

University of Delaware

Glenn Wagner

Head of Science

Wellington Heights Secondary School

As a valued Organisational Partner of the Global Education and Skills Forum in 2019 the Malala Fund - Gulmakai Network supports the work of education champions in developing countries and speeds up progress towards girls’ secondary education around the world.

Join this one-hour discussion with Malala Fund Gulmakai Champions and hear them talk about their work across different countries and sectors, and debate the role of independent civil society (those individuals, organisations and groups independent of government) in improving girls’ access to quality education around the world.

Sylvia Siqueira Campos

President

Mirim Brasil

Kennedy Odede

Co-Founder & CEO

Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO)

Rotimi Olawale

Co-Founder

YouthHubAfrica

Ambarish Rai

Founder/National Convener

Right to Education (RTE) Forum

Umme Kalsoom Seyal

Executive Director

Social Youth Council of Patriots (SYCOP)

Not all learning happens in the classroom. In fact, many believe that some of life’s biggest lessons can happen in the least likely locations. John May has spent his career working to ensure the world’s young people have the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom, as well as in. As the Secretary General of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award and as a senior contributor of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (including as a previous Vice Chairman) John has experienced first-hand how impactful non-formal education can be. Here, he talks about resilience, adaptability and all those ‘soft’ skills – or as he refers to them, ‘universal skills’, which many education experts are recognising as crucial in helping to ensure today’s and tomorrow’s young people are ready for the world. In conversation with Global Teacher Prize Finalist Mark Reid.

John May

Secretary General

The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation

Mark Reid

Teacher

Vancouver School Board

Going from strength-to-strength, EdTech is taking China by storm and enjoying record investment and company growth.
Increasingly Chinese education is turning to technology in the classroom. Artificial Intelligence in EdTech is becoming ubiquitous, supporting millions of learners in the fastest growing EdTech market on earth.
In a panel discussion, three hugely successful EdTech entrepreneurs share their story.

Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji

Founder

Rise Networks & Passnownow

Jeremiah FisayobambiI

TV New Anchor/Journalist

AfricaNews, a subsidiary of euronews/NBC group inc.

Elvis Nnajiofor

Software Engineer

Careem

Brian Schreuder

Superintendent General

Western Cape Education Department

For all confirmed all delegates of the Global Education and Skills Forum, we are delighted to invite you to the ‘The Assembly: a Global Teacher Prize Concert’ to thank teachers for their unsung work and spread the message of teacher respect to the next generation. Please pick up your complimentary ticket along with your GESF pass at the Registration desk from 22nd March.

Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan

Cabinet Member and Minister of Tolerance

Government of UAE

Steven Pinker

Professor, Author

Vikas Pota

Chairman

Varkey Foundation

Three school leaders and two learners engage in a moderated fireside discussion on how EdTech can empower teaching, peer-to-peer collaboration and student-teacher interaction in and beyond the classroom.
This lively discussion will highlight that EdTech can be a teacher’s friend rather than a teacher’s foe.

Ronan Dawes

Student

GEMS Education

Tanvi Dhingra

Student

GEMS International School Al Khail

John Kim

Senior Lecturer

Harvard Business School

Vijita Patel

Principal/National Leader of Education

Swiss Cottage School, Development & Research Centre

Fernando Shayer

Partner

Camino Education

Bailey Thomson Bailey Thomson

Head of Schools

SPARK Schools

In this talk at GESF, Professor Fernando M. Reimers, Ford Foundation Professor of the Practice of International Education, will discuss how to build productive links between research-based knowledge, policy and practice for the purpose of empowering students to improve the world. The talk will examine the key lessons generated by the Global Education Innovation Initiative, a multi-country research practice consortium supporting the transformation of public education, with an emphasis on the most recent studies of curriculum and teacher preparation, the recent report ‘Letters to a New Minister of Education’ and the Global Citizenship Education Curriculum.

Fernando Reimers

Ford Foundation Professor of International Education

Harvard University

We spend roughly a third of our lives sound asleep, and for good reason. Sleep is central to nearly every brain and bodily function we can identify, including our ability to learn. In practice, however, school-aged children and adolescents routinely experience insufficient sleep.
In order to prepare the next generation of students to succeed, we must first appreciate the power of sleep to aid daytime function. In this Research Briefing you will hear the latest research into why sleep is critical for learning.

Jared Saletin

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior

Alpert Medical School of Brown University

With tens of thousands of teachers leaving the profession each year, we lose huge value and experience from our classrooms. Pay is only a small part of the picture.
What do we need to do to keep great teachers in classrooms over the long run? Listen in to an honest conversation about the reasons teachers leave, and what we can do to make them stay. Session led by Institute of Education, University College London.

Nadia Lopez

Principal

Mott Hall Bridges Academy

Martin Mills

Director of the Centre for Teachers and Teaching Research

Institute of Education, UCL

Jaana Palojärvi

Director for International Affairs

Ministry of Education and Culture

Sam Sims

Research Fellow

UCL Institute of Education

Jane Perryman

Department Academic Head of Research

UCL Institute of Education

We know that collaboration works – within school systems, and within schools. But how well does it work in a sector made up of 17 different curricula and 182 nationalities? Since 2012, Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority has introduced four main initiatives designed to improve the quality of education in Dubai and encourage more collaboration throughout its education community. Recently, it commissioned the World Bank to examine the effectiveness of these initiatives.
In this session, World Bank researcher Simon Thacker will share the findings of its second report on KHDA improvement policy. He’ll detail how well KHDA has promoted the key concepts that lead to effective learning networks – focus, leadership and relationships – and how these can be improved further.
Dr Abdulla Al Karam, director general of KHDA, will share KHDA’s vision for collaboration in Dubai’s education community – a vision that will transform not just the practices of educators in Dubai, but the culture of its entire education sector.
This will be followed by a panel discussion on how to best facilitate effective collaboration within and between schools, and how this could impact education across the broader MENA region.

Abdulla Al Karam

Chairman Of The Board Of Directors & Director General

Knowledge & Human Development Authority

Safaa EL-KOGALI

Manager, Education Global Practice, MENA

The World Bank

Simon Thacker

Education Specialist

World Bank Group

Dino Varkey

Chief Executive Officer

GEMS Education

Teacher quality, status and conditions matter in the classroom - and beyond. However, a growing body of research suggests that the status of teaching as a profession remains very low and is on the decline in many countries.
Led by Education International, this Public Briefing will discuss and share concrete strategies for improving the professional status of teachers and ensuring decent work for all educators.

Nkandu chipepo Luo

Minister of Higher Education

Ministry of Higher Education, Zambia

Andria Zafirakou

Global Teacher Prize Winner, 2018

Alperton Community School

Dennis Sinyolo

Senior Coordinator

Education International

Ramya VENKATARAMAN

Founder & CEO

Centre for Teacher Accreditation (CENTA)

Listen to government leaders talk about their time in office, consider their legacies for education and compare what they’ve learned about changemaking at the highest level. Discussion led by Mr Vikas Pota, Chairman of the Varkey Foundation Board of Trustees.

President Julius Maada Bio

President of Sierra Leone

Tony Blair

Executive Chairman of the Tony Blair Institute and former UK Prime Minister

Tony Blair Institute

Vikas Pota

Chairman

Varkey Foundation

Juan Manuel Santos

President of Colombia (2010-2018) and Nobel Peace Prize Recipient (2016)

Colombia

Oley Dibba-Wadda

Director, Human Capital Youth and Skills Development

African Development Bank Group

Are 21st century skills essential, or a waste of precious time when most children still struggle to master the basics? Hear a spectrum of views from our experts on where they think our priorities should lie, and why.
Public Briefings deliver the latest news, analysis and thinking on the key issues that are changing the education and skills sectors. In this series of one-hour discussions, delegates will hear from expert contributors on who is changing the world, and what changemaking looks like across the different strands of GESF 2019.

Sarah Backhouse

Managing Director

World 50

Tiago Brandão Rodrigues

Minister

Portuguese Ministry of Education

Chinnappa Das

Student

Dreamadream

John May

Secretary General

The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation

Yuhyun Park

Founder and CEO

DQ Institute

Vishal Talreja

Cofounder

Dream a Dream

Higher Education is by no means immune to the digital revolution, nor to the pressures and needs of a fast-changing education landscape. A number of institutions have looked at embracing technology, whereas others are slower to engage. This is in contrast to some new emerging universities that embrace technology and new education models and pedagogies to the full.
We hear from five universities how they reinvent, transform or emerge as new education players in a digital age, in an interview-style panel.

Naveed Ejaz

Regional Manager Middle East & Africa

Minerva Schools at KGI

Jeroen Jansz

Director of Education

Erasmus University Rotterdam

Helena Pozniak

Independent journalist

Freelance

Philip Regier

University Dean for Educational Initiatives and CEO of EdPlus

Arizona State University

Marielle Van der Meer

Vice President of Global Affairs

African Leadership University

Education is one of the great issues in the globalized world of the 21st century, and it is the foundation of all future development. But what should be the role of the teacher be in an era of ever-advancing technology and globalization – and what does effective policy-making look like?
Senator Esteban Bullrich has been a minister of education three times: twice for the city of Buenos Aires and once for the national government of Argentina. In this talk at GESF 2019, Senator Bullrich will reflect on the challenges of education and education policy-making in both Argentina and across the wider world. He will argue that politicians have abandoned education, and that it is necessary to improve the salary structure of school principals and teachers, as well as to update what we call ‘teacher training’.
In this session, delegates will hear about the key changes that must be made to the governance, organization and management of educational systems in order for them to remain relevant in the 21st Century.

Esteban Bullrich

National Senator

Honorable Senate of Argentina

The classroom is the primary space available to teachers to test new practices, learning techniques and pedagogy. However, valuable learnings from classrooms around the world are being lost because teachers have so few professional paths to share what they’ve learned.
Join this Change in the Classroom discussion between Global Teacher Prize finalists and expert contributors as they discuss how the education and skills sectors can learn about promising innovations in the classroom, and debate the extent to which change in the classroom can drive innovation in other sectors.

Hanna Dudich

Teacher

Taras Shevchenko Himnazia

Stephen Ritz

Founder

Green Bronx Machine / National Health Wellness and Learning Center

Koen Timmers

Lecturer, Researcher, Author

PXL-Education

Andrew Wales

Chief Digital Impact and Sustainability Officer

BT plc

Smartphone ownership has soared in recent years and adolescents today represent the most digitally connected generation the world has seen. However, many educators and parents fear that this constant connection to mobile technology and social media is harming children. Media reports depict social media as an addictive drug that is damaging young minds and disconnecting children from the world.
The narrative around social media and smartphones is frightening – but science and streaming data from young people’s devices tells a different story. This Research Briefing highlights key findings regarding the effects of new technologies on children’s still developing minds, social relationships, and health using information gathered directly from young peoples’ mobile phones and wearable devices.

Candice Odgers

Professor

University of California Irvine

Melissa’s journey towards teaching music started in fifth grade. Struggling with low self-esteem as a result of dyslexia, she found a huge source of support in her teacher, who mentored her, helped her improve her grades, and gave her a leadership role as a ͞Safety Patrol͟. Learning life lessons through music also guided Melissa’s path. When she joined the marching band as a pupil herself in high school, she found it very challenging and wanted to quit. However, after persevering, she learned that the more you do something the better you get at it – and eventually, Melissa was made the leader of the band. These experiences taught her the value of never giving up, trying to make the world a better place, and helping others. So when she became a teacher, she wanted to help her students in the same way.
Take a class with one of the top 10 finalists for the 2019 Global Teacher Prize. Each live, 30-minute lesson will showcase the different methods, learnings and values that helped to secure the teacher's place in the final of the US$1 million prize.

Melissa Salguero

Music Educator

NYC Department of Education

Writer/Producer, Gastón Gorali is an award winning author, screenwriter and producer. He produced and co-wrote the animated film Metegol/Underdogs. Released by Universal Studios, the film is the largest animated feature film coming out of Latin America to Date. Directed by Academy Award winning director Juan Jose Campanella, and released in over 50 countries, it was a smash hit setting box-office records in Argentina and collecting major international awards, such as the Goya, Platino, and NY international Children Film Festival.
Along with Juan Jose Campanella, he’s co-founder and CEO of Mundoloco CGI Animation Studios, one of the leading animation studios of the region.
He’s co-creator and show runner of Discovery Kids’ hit TV series Mini Beat Power Rockers. With over 500 million online monthly views, it’s one of the hottest I.P created in the region.
In this talk, hear Gastón talk about his life, his work and why he believes that filmmaking and animation can help to change the world. Moderated by the Varkey Foundation's Carolina Gimenez.

Carolina Gimenez

EdTech Manager

Varkey Foundation

Gastón Gorali

Producer, CEO

Mundo Loco CGI

What does quality education for girls look like in different classrooms around the world?
Join this Public Briefing where Global Teacher Prize finalists and Malala Fund Gulmakai Champions reflect on the successes and challenges in different countries and contexts, and debate what more teachers can do to ensure that their classrooms are safe and effective environments for girls to learn.

Rahmatullah Arman

CEO

Teach for Afghanistan

Dhaval Bathia

Director

Genesis Educare

Denise Carreira

Deputy Coordinator

Ação Educativa

Becky Francis

Director

UCL Institute for Education

Muniratu Issifu

Country Director

Varkey Foundation, Ghana

Most efforts in education continue to focus on teachers. But what about those who lead them? Should we be spending more time focusing on school principal effectiveness? If so, where do we go from there?
Public Briefings deliver the latest news, analysis and thinking on the key issues that are changing the education and skills sectors. In this series of one-hour discussions, delegates will hear from expert contributors on who is changing the world, and what changemaking looks like across the different strands of GESF 2019.

Laura Brown

CEO

PEAS

Karen Giles

Varkey Advisory Board/Headteacher

Varkey/ Barham Primary School

Sameer Sampat

Co-Founder

Global School Leaders

Christopher Stone

Chief Education Officer

GEMS Education

Across the world, NGOs are working to provide development assistance and vital services to education systems eroded by systemic poverty or badly damaged by conflict, political crisis and natural disaster.
Join our expert contributors from key NGOs in this Public Briefing as they discuss the key lessons they’ve learned from their work and debate the role of such groups in education, development and emergency-response.

Rwitwika Bhattacharya Agarwal

CEO

Swaniti Initiative

Cherie Blair

Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women (CBFW)

Cherie Blair Foundation for Women (CBFW)

Nick Canning

CEO

Kizazi

Lucy Lake

Chief Executive Officer

Campaign for Female Education - CAMFED

Asif Saleh

Senior Director (Strategy,Communication and Empowerment)

BRAC

Omidyar Network will be premiering its ground-breaking report, "Scaling Access & Impact: Realizing the Power of EdTech" while at Global Education and Skills Forum on the key factors driving EdTech access and usage at scale in a variety of countries. In this panel we'll showcase what we found in China, Indonesia, Chile and the U.S. and talk about our new model that features 16 factors that will help countries succeed.

Eliza Erikson

Investment Partner

Omidyar Network

Erin Simmons

Entrepreneur in Residence

Omidyar Network

Iman Usman

Co-Founder

Ruangguru

Steven Pinker is a cognitive scientist who has been named by TIME as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. His work has helped millions demystify the science behind human language, thought, and action.
Steven Pinker is a Harvard professor, a TED speaker, and a bestselling author who has twice been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Join a conversation with Steven and Professor Lutfey Siddiqi, to hear about his life, his work and who he thinks is really changing the world.

Steven Pinker

Professor, Author

Lutfey Siddiqi

Board Governor

UWC Atlantic College

Martin Salvetti did not plan to be a teacher, but teaching found him anyway. He began tutoring to earn extra money to get through university, and kept on going.
Salvetti had returned to his own school to tutor, so he was a similar age to his students. He could empathise and saw opportunities to improve their education experience. He set up a weekend football club involving students and staff. They interacted differently with each other in this new setting, and he observed how effectively the students learnt while being actively involved in something. Despite the diversity of the students, who all come from different parts of Argentine society, the experience was universal. This insight has formed the basis of his teaching since.
Take a class with one of the top 10 finalists for the 2019 Global Teacher Prize. Each live, 30-minute lesson will showcase the different methods, learnings and values that helped to secure the teacher's place in the final of the US$1 million prize.

Martin Salvetti

Professor

E.E.S.T N5 '"2 de Abril" Temperley

Over 10 million people have been genotyped worldwide and researchers have now identified the genetic variants associated with success in education. Today, a researcher can use a person’s genetic code to predict how many years of schooling they will complete – and this prediction will be just as accurate as if the researcher had used a traditional predictor of academic success like family income.
This revolution in genetics poses fundamental questions for what we think we know about education. Join this Research Briefing to find out how we can ensure that the capabilities of every child are maximized, regardless of the genes they happened to be born with.

Paige Harden

Professor

University of Texas at Austin

From BlackRock memos and certified B Corporations, to social entrepreneurship and the search for purposeful work, there is a movement towards business as a source for good. How will the choices we make – at work, at home and in school – reflect this trend and narrow the chasm between what our youth aspire to and business as usual? How will we bring purpose into the curriculum of today to build the world of tomorrow?

Asheesh Advani

President & CEO

JA Worldwide

Jeff Hittner

Co-Founder

Project X - The Purpose Company

How can teachers and schools empower young people to be good students, citizens and changemakers?
Join this Change in the Classroom discussion between Global Teacher Prize finalists and expert contributors on the role of student agency in education, as well as on the critical skills that students need to take control of their learning in the classroom.

Daisy Mertens

Teacher

Communiityschool De Vuurvogel

Catherine Nakabugo

Teacher

St.Andrew Kaggwa Gombe High school Kawaala

Vishal Talreja

Cofounder

Dream a Dream

Ziyaan Virji

Student

The Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa

'Personalised Learning’ is not new to Education. However, with the rise of EdTech and learning Technologies, personalised learning is receiving more attention than ever and EdTech entrepreneurs, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for education are developing rapidly.
However, personalised learning can be supported by many approaches, relying on different technologies and pedagogies, that bring adaptive learning to the classroom and beyond.
Three experts, challenged by their moderator in a Fireside Discussion will bring some of the multiple facets and power of personalisation to life.

Carla Aerts

Director

Tmrw Institute

Paul Kim

Chief Technology Officer & Assistant Dean

Stanford University Graduate School of Education

Simon Lebus

Non-Executive Chairman

Pamoja Education

Martin Siltberg

Business Development

Sana Labs

In the US alone, over $410 billion as spent on philanthropy last year. With hundreds of billions being given away globally every year, we bring together leading thinkers and foundation leaders to share their insights on a fundamental question: does it make a difference?
Public Briefings deliver the latest news, analysis and thinking on the key issues that are changing the education and skills sectors. In this series of one-hour discussions, delegates will hear from expert contributors on who is changing the world, and what changemaking looks like across the different strands of GESF 2019.

Shahira Ahmed Bazari

Managing Director

Yayasan Hasanah

Ayla Goksel

CEO

Ozyegin Foundation

John Goodwin

CEO

LEGO Foundation

Mariana Luz

CEO

Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation

Vijoo Rattansi

Chancellor / Chairman

University of Nairobi / Rattansi Educational Trust

How does a system best educate large refugee populations, while also ensuring university graduates are employable? Learn about the unique regional challenges that MENA faces, and what policy-makers across the region are doing about them.
Public Briefings deliver the latest news, analysis and thinking on the key issues that are changing the education and skills sectors. In this series of one-hour discussions, delegates will hear from expert contributors on who is changing the world, and what changemaking looks like across the different strands of GESF 2019.

Leila Hoteit

Partner and Managing Director

Boston Consulting Group

Safaa EL-KOGALI

Manager, Education Global Practice, MENA

The World Bank

Sabri Saidam

Minister

Ministry of Education & Higher Education, Palestine

Sports have the power to bring people together like no other medium. But can they really change the lives of young people for the better?
Watch a panel of leading sportspeople in this Public Briefing debate the role of sports in the classroom and across the education sector more broadly, and hear their reflections on what their sports have taught them about what it takes to succeed at the highest levels.

Jeremiah FisayobambiI

TV New Anchor/Journalist

AfricaNews, a subsidiary of euronews/NBC group inc.

Marie-Christine Ghanbari Jahromi

Teacher, Lecturer, Researcher (Top Ten Finalist Global Teacher Prize)

Comprehensive School / University of Muenster

Brian Lara (1)

Former West Indian Cricketer

Auma Obama

Founder and Director

Auma Obama Foundation Sauti Kuu

Susannah Rodgers

Paralympic Athlete/Non-Executive Director/Consultant

Spirit of 2012

Sebastian Verón

Chairman

Club Estudiantes de La Plata

Yasodai Selvakumaran is nationally recognised in Australia as an outstanding teacher and leader. A Tamil Sri Lankan-born Australian, Yasodai’s parents left Sri Lanka amongst growing civil tensions, and she grew up in rural and regional Australia before moving to Sydney to complete university study.
From a young age, she learned that Tamils in Sri Lanka were discriminated against and denied human rights, but rarely saw this on the news, and questioned why the voices of Tamils were not heard. Her interest in history was awakened by historiography, with its emphasis on the need to recognise assumptions and biases, and developed through specialisation in post-colonial histories and global education.
Today, Yasodai teaches at Rooty Hill High School, a comprehensive public school in Western Sydney with the challenges of a culturally and linguistically diverse group of students in a socio-economically deprived area. The school has a significant enrolment of 65 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and the wider community often battles with stereotypes that poorer students cannot achieve highly. A large number of students have experienced trauma, which they may continue to encounter throughout their high school careers.
Take a class with one of the top 10 finalists for the 2019 Global Teacher Prize. Each live, 30-minute lesson will showcase the different methods, learnings and values that helped to secure the teacher's place in the final of the US$1 million prize.

Yasodai Selvakumaran

Humanities Teacher and Professional Practice Mentor

Rooty Hill High School NSW Australia

Increasingly foundations, NGOs and non-profit organisations turn to EdTech to bring education to resource-poor contexts, refugee camps and conflict zones or learners that lack opportunity and live in poverty. Driven by improving the plight of people and the aspiration to bring education to every child, youngster or improve literacy in adult learners, these charities and foundations increasingly resort to EdTech. In a thought-provoking interview panel, we hear how EdTech is embraced for good.

Walid Ammari

Deputy CEO

Queen Rania Foundation for Education & Development

Eugine Chung

COO

Enuma

Emma Duncan

Social Policy Editor

The Economist

Denis Mizne

CEO

Lemann Foundation

Asif Saleh

Senior Director (Strategy,Communication and Empowerment)

BRAC

The Varkey Foundation’s Global Teacher Status Index is the most comprehensive study ever of teacher respect around the world. Published in late 2018, the latest edition of the Index is based on an opinion poll of over 35,000 adults and over 5,500 additional teachers across 35 countries.
In this briefing at GESF 2019, lead researcher Professor Peter Dolton will present his key findings on the Global Teacher Status Index, including on whether teacher status is rising or falling globally, how teachers are seen relative to other professions, what people think of teacher’s wages and working hours – and whether teacher status is linked to pupil outcomes.

Karen Giles

Varkey Advisory Board/Headteacher

Varkey/ Barham Primary School

200485875

Professor & Research Director

National Institute of Economic and Social Research and University of Sussex

Over the past three decades behavioral and brain sciences have increasingly been used to better understand how people process information and make decisions in a wealth of sectors ranging from healthcare to entertainment, or retail, design and user experience to name only a few. Neuroscience and neurotechnologies have therefore become pervasive contributing to improving our daily lives including our wellness, safety and performance in the workplace and in our personal lives. Education - for reasons as diverse as inertia to change and lack of resources - is a late mover in embracing our understanding of human brain and behavior to improve content, format, learning strategies but also wellness and brain health of the students, teachers and their families.
In this EdTalk, a neuroscientist turned neurotech entrepreneur - who also happens to be a DJ - will present the benefits of STEAM programs (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) for our brains and show the benefits of personalized neuroinformatics in the classroom and for EdTech.

Olivier Oullier

President

EMOTIV

Adolescence is a fascinating and complex transitions in life. Self-discovery. Emerging independence. Moving from childhood to adulthood. This is a highly formative phase where develeopmental challenges and opportunities can shape a learner's life course.
For much of this century, scientists and scholars tended to assume that the changes associated with adolescence were almost entirely dictated by biological influences. Today the field of adolescent development has begun to embrace multi-dimentional views of this phase of life. Join this Research Briefing to hear how biology is only one factor that affects young people's development and behavior.

Hiba Ballout

Head of Secondary Cycle

Saint George Schools

Paige Harden

Professor

University of Texas at Austin

Candice Odgers

Professor

University of California Irvine

Jared Saletin

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior

Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Kavita Sanghvi

Vice Principal

Chatrabhuj Narsee Memorial School

Simon Sommer

Head of Research

Jacobs Foundation

Barbara Zielonka

Teacher/ Edtech Specialist/Teacher trainer

Nannestad High School

What does it take to win the $1 million Global Teacher Prize?
Join a Change in the Classroom conversation between previous winners of the Global Teacher Prize as they talk about their lives, their teaching and the impact that the prize has made to their classrooms and wider community.

Hanan Al Hroub

Global Teacher Prize Winner 2016

Palestinian Ministry Of Education

Rebecca Warbrick

Head of Marketing

Varkey Foundation

Andria Zafirakou

Global Teacher Prize Winner, 2018

Alperton Community School

EdTech presents new challenges and opportunities for policy makers. However, EdTech innovators and politicians have not often succeeded in establishing a successful dialogue to aid the adoption of EdTech in schools.
Three prominent education influencers and policy experts talk to Andrew Jack, Global Education Editor of The Financial Times, about how politicians need to gain improved and evidence-based understanding of EdTech to move to informed EdTech policy-making and how the EdTech entrepreneurs can help.

Stefania Giannini

Assistant Director-General for Education

UNESCO

Andrew Jack

Global education editor

Financial Times

Jamie Saavedra

Senior Director, Education Global Practice

The World Bank Group

Andreas Schleicher

Director for the Directorate of Education and Skills

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Hidekazu Shoto’s innovation in teaching has been to create methods of teaching fluency in English without needing foreign travel or study abroad.
In his youth, Hidekazu himself wanted to study abroad to become a better English speaker, but financial circumstances did not permit it. After becoming a teacher, Hidekazu taught a student who liked English and wanted to study abroad, but could not travel: a physical condition meant she was not able to leave Japan. Moreover, in Japanese classrooms, students do not have opportunities to learn English in a way that develops real fluency. These experiences set Hidekazu on the path to teaching advanced English language skills without foreign study.
A large part of Hidekazu’s approach is informed by tools such as Skype and Minecraft, which enable communication in English with students in other countries. His students make friends quickly and have collaborated with primary school students in up to 10 foreign countries to create buildings in Minecraft. Through this activity, students learn new skills such as communication, teamwork, imagination, and logical thinking. Another way that Hidekazu has innovated is by connecting different academic subjects using these technologies. Combining subjects such as English and Programming through Minecraft has also made it more manageable for other teachers to cover these subjects.
Take a class with one of the top 10 finalists for the 2019 Global Teacher Prize. Each live, 30-minute lesson will showcase the different methods, learnings and values that helped to secure the teacher's place in the final of the US$1 million prize.

Hidekazu SHOTO

Teacher

Ritsumeikan Primary School

Alice Wairimu Nderitu is changing the world. Her dream is to “build a generation” of Kenyans for whom the political process is a peaceful one. In 2010 she helped to negotiate the first peaceful elections in Kenya’s Rift Valley in 20 years, stopping a cycle of political violence which two years earlier had killed over 1,300 people and displaced over half a million more. Alice is the winner of the 2017 Global Pluralism Award and co-founder of Uwiano Platform for Peace, which links early warnings of violence with early response. Today, she also trains female mediators and writes educational materials to teach children about peace and ethnic relations. Delegates at the Global Education and Skills Forum in 2019 will hear from this influential changemaker and particularly why she believes that education is critical to building peace.

Alice WAIRIMU NDERITU

Ethinic Relations Educator / Armed Conflict Mediator

Mdahalo - Bridging Divides

Since taking office in April 2018, President Julius Maada Bio has committed his administration to move Sierra Leone beyond peacebuilding to establishing firm democratic institutions. The centrepiece of President Bio’s strategy has been the launch of an ambitious free quality education programme that provides access to basic through secondary education. In this key session at GESF 2019, hear President Bio talk about his vision for Sierra Leone’s future, and the work he believes still needs to be done to deliver it.

President Julius Maada Bio

President of Sierra Leone

Mina Al-Oraibi

Editor in Chief

The National

The education outlook in countries across Sub-Saharan Africa is absolutely critical to global efforts to deliver access to universal quality education by 2030.
Join this Public Briefing where the panel of experts and elite policy-makers as they reflect on the latest research about the state of education across the region and debate possible solutions to key issues of access, quality and equity.

Steve Cumming

Associate Director Secondary Education and TVET

Mastercard Foundation

Julie Gichuru

CEO

Arimus Media Ltd

Amina Mohamed (1)

Cabinet Secretary

Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage, Kenya

Rosemary Seninde Nansubuga

State Minister for Primary Education

Ministry of Education and Sports, Uganda

Pamela Odibeli

Founder

Teenage Entrepreneurs and Engagement Network

Matthew Opoku Prempeh

Minister for Education

Government of Ghana

Public Briefings deliver the latest news, analysis and thinking on the key issues that are changing the education and skills sectors. In this series of one-hour discussions, delegates will hear from expert contributors on who is changing the world, and what changemaking looks like across the different strands of GESF 2019.

Amini Kajunju

Executive Director

IUGB Foundation

Jack Kosakowski

President & CEO

Junior Achievement USA

Vivian Lau

President and CEO

JA Asia Pacific Limited

What is it like to go to school in the country with the biggest education system in the world? Learn from leading Chinese educators and education investors as they share their insights from the field.
Public Briefings deliver the latest news, analysis and thinking on the key issues that are changing the education and skills sectors. In this series of one-hour discussions, delegates will hear from expert contributors on who is changing the world, and what changemaking looks like across the different strands of GESF 2019.

Russell Hazard

Teaching, Learning, and Innovation

NIT Education Group/Aidi School

Xueqin Jiang

China educator and writer

Chengdu public schools

Jinghuan Shi

Chair of the Academic Committee

Institute of Education, Tsinghua University

Yan Wang

Teacher

Beijing No. 8 High School

Byju’s The Learning App is an Indian EdTech success story that many EdTech start-ups and entrepreneurs look up to. This Bangalore tutoring firm took the Indian EdTech enabled tutoring market by a storm.
Byju, founder and CEO, discusses creating and growing India’s EdTech success story, with GV Ravishankar, Byju’s early investor.

Byju Raveendran

Founder & CEO

BYJU'S - The Learning App (Think & Learn Pvt Ltd)

Ravishankar GV

Managing Director

Sequoia Capital India Advisors Pvt ltd

Peter Tabichi is a science teacher who gives away 80% of his monthly income to help the poor. His dedication, hard work and passionate belief in his student’s talent has led his poorly-resourced school in remote rural Kenya to emerge victorious after taking on the country’s best schools in national science competitions.
Peter teaches at Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School in Pwani Village, situated in a remote, semi-arid part of Kenya’s Rift Valley. Here, students from a host of diverse cultures and religions learn in poorly equipped classrooms.
Their lives can be tough in a region where drought and famine are frequent. 95% of pupils hail from poor families, almost a third are orphans or have only one parent, and many go without food at home. Drug abuse, teenage pregnancies, dropping out early from school, young marriages and suicide are common.
Turning lives around in a school with only one computer, poor internet, and a student-teacher ratio of 58:1, is no easy task, not least when to reach the school, students must walk 7km along roads that become impassable in the rainy season.
Take a class with one of the top 10 finalists for the 2019 Global Teacher Prize. Each live, 30-minute lesson will showcase the different methods, learnings and values that helped to secure the teacher's place in the final of the US$1 million prize.

Peter Tabichi

Maths/Physics Teacher

Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School

As Learning Sciences and insights into ‘how we learn’ evolve very rapidly and the onset of AI and technologies are likely to become increasingly important to education and learning, EdTech may no longer be able to ignore the research and findings of Learning Science.
We hear from three eminent Learning Scientists and education researchers in what they belief EdTech should consider when developing products and how EdTech entrepreneurs should engage with learning scientists to inform product development, pedagogy and technological approaches.
Cognitive psychology, neuroscience, AI and pedagogy are seeing considerable developments that increase our understanding of learning and the influence pedagogy. Engaging with the experts and the research finding may only be possible if a mutual exchange between EdTech and Learning Science can be established to benefit learning.
In a Fireside Discussion, we hear why a dialogue is needed.

Carla Aerts

Director

Tmrw Institute

Candice Odgers

Professor

University of California Irvine

Amy Ogan

Assistant Professor

Carnegie Mellon University

Kaja Jasinska

Assistant Professor

University of Delaware

The positive impact of music on students has been historically associated with arts and creativity. Recent experiences and studies have demonstrated the power of music to improve stress management and performance in school and beyond across various age groups. Furthermore, music has been playing a key role to improve brain health and fight depression amongst students. During this session, a Grammy winner musician and producer, an academic and an entrepreneur will share their own experience and the latest behavioral and brain science findings to help teachers and their administration better leverage the power of music in their schools. The attendance will also take part in an interactive experiment where we will see in real-time how brains respond to a live cello performance.

Charles Chang

Professor

Fanhai International School of Finance, Fudan University

Dana Leong

Musician

TEKTONIK Arts Inc

Olivier Oullier

President

EMOTIV

Nedgine Paul Deroly is the co-founder & CEO of Anseye Pou Ayiti (Teach for Haiti), which is working to build a Haitian-led movement of civic leaders to spread educational equity. Haiti faces a range of serious challenges to education and over 80% of the country’s primary schools operate outside the public sector and are run by for-profit organisations, faith-based groups and other NGOs.
In this session, Nedgine will discuss the "who" of this year's GESF theme: Who has been included in the necessary work of transforming public education to provide all children with the excellence they deserve? While discussing the approach of the Anseye Pou Ayiti movement in Haiti, Nedgine will highlight the importance of recognizing the "solution bearers" among those who themselves have experienced the education inequity we seek to dismantle.
Nedgine has been named among the top global social innovators by Echoing Green, selected for the Forbes Magazine “30 Under 30” Social Entrepreneurs, and is a member of the inaugural cohort of the Obama Foundation Fellowship. Hear Nedgine talk about her life-changing work at Anseye Pou Ayiti and what she thinks can help change education in the country for the better.

Nedgine Paul Deroly

CEO

Anseye Pou Ayiti

As the kinds of things that are easy to teach and test have become easy to digitize and automate, what are the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that matter for success in tomorrow’s world and how can we develop these at scale? The session will look at state of the art practice from around the world.
Join Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills, for this discussion on the future of education. Moderated by TES Education Editor William Stewart.

Andreas Schleicher

Director for the Directorate of Education and Skills

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

William Stewart

News Editor

Tesglobal

Adi is an entrepreneur, professional host, and content creator whose goal is to create positive change in the world by empowering one person at a time. She is recognized as a YouTube Creators for Change Fellow representing the Philippines. In this session at GESF 2019, hear Adi talk about her important work to address online bullying and harassment.

Adi Amor

Co-Founder

Threefold Trigger Marketing

Has the failure of our education system to modernize led students to become disconnected from school? Hear advocates both for and against the traditional model of schooling, addressing issues across the spectrum of mental illness, social injustice and media. Session led by Institute of Education, UCL.
Public Briefings deliver the latest news, analysis and thinking on the key issues that are changing the education and skills sectors. In this series of one-hour discussions, delegates will hear from expert contributors on who is changing the world, and what changemaking looks like in practice.

Armand Doucet

Teacher & Author

Riverview High School

Becky Francis

Director

UCL Institute for Education

So-young Kang

Founder & CEO

Gnowbe

Martin Mills

Director of the Centre for Teachers and Teaching Research

Institute of Education, UCL

Paresh Rawal is a multi-award winning actor who has been performing on stage since 1972 and has appeared in more than 250 films. He has performed more than 150 plays and more than 5,000 performances in India and in countries like the USA, the UK, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, Europe, and the Far East. In 20120, he performed 50 shows in 52 days in 52 centers in the USA in 2012. Some of his best-known films are: OMG-Oh my God, Sardar- Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Hera Pheri, Baghban.
Join a conversation with this world-famous actor and learn more about his life, his work and who he believes is changing the world for the better. In conversation with Nargish Khambatta, GEMS Principal and Vice-President.

Nargish Khambatta

Principal/CEO, Vice President - Education

GEMS Modern Academy / GEMS

Paresh Rawal

Actor, Member of Parliament

For years, Yuhyun Park has worked to transform our understanding of digital literacy. Through her pioneering and award-winning work on how technology intersects with education, she developed a digital citizenship education platform for children in South Korea and Singapore as well as the Digital Intelligence Quotient (DQ) education framework.
Today, she oversees numerous initiatives aimed at helping children to navigate the digital world safely. Hear this influential changemaker talk about her life, her work and why she believes we need to do more to prepare our children for the digital future.

Yuhyun Park

Founder and CEO

DQ Institute

The World Bank's Human Capital Index measures the amount of human capital that a child born today can expect to attain by age 18, given the risks of poor health and poor education that prevail in the country where they live. It is designed to highlight how improvements in current health and education outcomes shape the productivity of the next generation of workers. The index envisages a world where every child achieves their full potential.
In this talk at GESF 2019, hear World Bank Education Global Practice Manager Harry Patrinos describe how learning indicators are reflected in the index, and their importance for understanding a child's success in life. The most innovative feature of the index is the harmonization of learning outcomes (HLO). HLO bring together, on the same scale, all international and regional student assessments. This gives us a database that goes back to 1965 for more than 160 countries—including, for the first time, most of the low-income countries.

Harry Patrinos

Practice Manager - Education

World Bank

Changemakers can come from the toughest places. Come and listen to the remarkable stories of Bahar, Arzou and Bana, young girls and leaders from Afghanistan and Syria, and learn how they are changing the world, one community at a time.

Bana Alabed

Bahar Abbassi

Student

Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad

Arzou Lashkari

Student

The Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad

Farah Williamson

Director of Gulf & Strategic Partnerships

Plan International

Who is changing the world – and how are they learning to do it? What role can business play alongside educators? A dynamic economy requires a tech-literate society where young people don’t just consume technology avidly, but know how it works. They need the skills to become the problem solvers, makers and creators of the future.
BT’s Barefoot partnership has trained and equipped 70,000 teachers to educate over 2 million primary children in the UK in computational thinking – including experimenting, designing, debugging and collaborating. How can we scale programmes like this to build better digital intelligence?